


The Golden Thread Journals

by teleportingoctopi



Series: Dark Harbors [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Dark Harbors, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Pirate AU, Pirate Ruby, White Rose - Freeform, little moments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 23:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19733851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teleportingoctopi/pseuds/teleportingoctopi
Summary: These are the things that have been.These are the things that might have been.*Weiss Schnee's journal. Companion to Dark Harbors.





	The Golden Thread Journals

**Author's Note:**

> I started this for WRW and then just never.......uhhhh....posted it? BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
> 
> I'm going to be updating this every once and a while, too, so make sure to check back here occasionally. While this journal isn't NECESSARY to the plot of Dark Harbors, they are small moments between Weiss and Ruby that I've been thinking about.
> 
> Chapter XX is written, by the way. I'll be editing it and posting soon, so look forward to that. I just thought this might be a nice way to say SORRY FOR HURTING YOUR FEELINGS EVERYONE. XD
> 
> As always thanks to TheGreatWeissShark for just being generally awesome. I couldn't do it without you Sharky! :>
> 
> Enjoy~

These are the things that have been.

These are the things that _might_ have been.

*

Even sitting at the fire, wringing your sodden clothes out inch by inch, you watch me. I’m not going to look up, Ruby Rose.

I’m writing things down, as you suggested.

Be happy I considered the fancy at all.

I don’t know what to dictate in these journals.

“Anything you feel.”

I know that’s what you said.

But I don’t know what I’m feeling, with you leaning back against the deck, droplets of rain running the concourse of your neck.

Your eyes are dark tonight, Ruby.

I’m still mad at you for dragging me outside in this abysmal weather.

 _It’s not funny_.

You’re laughing at me. “The way you write is _furious_ , Schnee. Do you do everything that way?”

It’s so far from the truth, you’ll never know.

I feel far more than just fury, Raider.

Maybe someday when you read these journals, you’ll remember.

Maybe you won’t.

“You really that mad at me?” Stop _pouting_! For being the Scarlet Raider, you act like such a kicked puppy.

It would be simpler if I _was_ furious.

If I could _hate_ you, then my life ~~could~~ ~~would~~ …

You looked at me today and smiled. The rain was pounding at your back, the Crescent Rose rolling gently along the waves. I think you feel bad about the way Yang treated me. I haven’t left your sight in days—annoying.

I’m not a fragile child.

I’m not a damsel.

“Can I show you something?”

The way you asked was soft and small. Your eyes were cagey but lit with an excitement that reminded me of Whitely whenever father gave him a new horse.

“What? What can you possibly want now?” I didn’t mean to snap at you.

You looked down, the silver in your eyes tarnishing. “I-I wanted to show you the rain,” you stammered. It shocked me.

How was I supposed to say no to that? My chest twisted, the breath robbed straight from my lungs.

“We have rain in Atlas, you _dolt,_ we are a _port_ city.” I couldn’t help the retort.

Just as you couldn’t help your frown. I watched you finger the fresh scar along your ribs, a crease developing along your brow. “But not rain this way.” You chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.

“What different ways can rain _be_?”

“Many!” You were light and chipper, your smile beaming and commanding my attention. I couldn’t move, a numbness in my fingers beginning to bleed up my arms.

“Really?” It was all I could manage. Because there you were, the sea at your back, jabbing your fingers into a stab wound I caused and…

That didn’t seem to matter.

Doesn’t.

You stood up, eager and excited. Grabbing me by the wrist, you tugged me to my feet before I could form any sort of protest. My mouth was dry, the only sound my heart beat. I was certain you’d be able to hear it.

“There’s magic in the rain, Weiss,” you said. As if it was normal knowledge. Like the earth is round, the sky is blue, and the tides are consistent.

“Magic.” I didn’t believe in magic then.

“Magic!” You slung your oilskin over your shoulders and handed my jacket to me. I barely had time to put it on before you were tugging me out the door.

The rain pelted my face, wind whipping my hair.

I was drenched in seconds.

The sky was dark, swirling in bluish green sheets of rain. It slammed the deck, resting water collecting and making the boards slick. You pulled me along the rail, looking back at me with a lunar eclipse in your eyes.

I’ve never seen them flash so bright.

Like that second before the moon swallows the sun.

I knew then: I’d follow you anywhere.

We stopped at the bow of the ship. The deck was deserted save for a skeleton crew managing the sails and helm as the wind threatened to knock us off course.

You spun me about and positioned me at the apex of the bow. The bowsprint was like a knife through the horizon. You drew yourself close, your chest pressing hard into my back, steadying me to the pitching ship. I clung to the taffrail for balance, my head spinning, stomach churning.

The back of my neck prickled.

Slowly, you raised your hand and pointed to where the tip of the bowsprint and the horizon met. “Look hard, Weiss,” you said, your voice low against my ear. Your chest vibrated against me, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to see much of anything.

I swallowed and followed your finger.

“What am I supposed to be looking _for_?” The agitation in my voice annoyed me.

“Look really hard, Weiss. I know you’ll see it.” Your hand remained steady. You wrapped your other hand around my waist and breathed against my neck.

“Ruby, I—” But before I could finish the sentence, a flickering red light bled along the tip of the bowsprint. My tongue felt swollen in my mouth. I leaned forward, the taffrail biting uncomfortably into my stomach.

There was a buzzing between my ears.

“You see it?” There was fear in your voice.

“What is it?” I asked. The longer I looked at it, the more visible it became. A soft light at first, then a hard, unmistakable pulsing. To the point where I don’t understand how I could have missed it before.

“Look between the rain,” you said.

“But…” I didn’t want to look away from the bleeding light.

“Trust me,” you murmured. The hairs on the back of my neck stood with static.

I ripped my gaze away from the light and looked out into the sheets of pounding droplets. And slithering between the spaces were wispy golden threads. They ebbed and flowed, all feeding into the horizon. All leading to the same place.

Thousands of them.

I gasped.

My knees buckled but you caught me and held me upright. You chuckled warmly. “There’s magic in the rain,” you sighed again. “And mom said only those free can see it.”

I wanted to ask what you meant by that.

But instead, I let it be, mesmerized by the lights.

A crash to the port side caused us both to jump. I looked over the railing towards the commotion, a large head breeching and slamming back down into the water. Geysers of pressured water pushed up against the sky.

You trembled against me, your voice tight with excitement.

“Whales!”

You pressed me into the railing and peered over my shoulder. I watched your grin out of the corner of my eye.

“Weiss!” You turned to me and I tried to turn back to the water. But I know you caught me staring. “You really are good luck!” You were focused on the emerging pod, your grip on me tightening with each passing excitement.

I didn’t know what to say to that.

So, I let you hold me.

I let you hold me and I watched the golden threads, the bleeding horizon, and the whales until the tides swallowed them all.

And now we sit in your cabin.

You’re laughing at me and I’m writing things down.

And these are things that have been.

Perhaps these are also the things that might have been.

These are the things I know as truths.

*

“This isn’t like Penny, is it?”

I heard what Yang said to you.

“Don’t bring her into this.” There was a defensiveness in your voice that cut me.

I’ve never heard you this way before. You seemed uncomfortable—like it was something you experienced often. Something that has bothered you for years.

An old wound.

One you couldn’t face.

You didn’t know I was there.

I was on the galley steps, looking for Blake. She mentioned that she wanted to give me something. I don’t know what it was.

Still don’t.

Because you were sitting with Yang in the deserted mess, a cup of ale in front of you. Yang sat across from you, her own cup half empty and clutched in her hands. She looked at you fiercely, searching your face for any cracks.

“You _remember_ what happened, Rubes. How do you know she—”

“Penny made her choice.” Your voice was cold as iron. There was a hitch in your throat, your syllables broken. “She has lived—let her die.”

The heartbreak in your voice echoed in the chamber of my chest.

My throat tightened as I realized.

You loved her.

Maybe you never said it to her face. Maybe you never accepted it.

But you did, Ruby.

You loved Penny.

And I gave you back to her.

The realization was sand through my fingers. You should have stayed away.

As you said: I have lived. Let me die.

But you couldn’t.

Why?

I couldn’t answer that question on the galley steps.

“Ruby, what if he goes after Penny? You can’t save both of them.” Yang leaned closer, shadows stretching across her face.

I wanted you to refute her statement. I wanted you to choose _me_. And only me. But you didn’t. You thought for a long moment and each second was another mile in a dead man’s shoes.

Neptune emerged from the kitchens then, startling both of you.

He gave you both a wayward glance before setting down a bushel of carrots on his prep table. Grunting, he disappeared back into the kitchens below, his footsteps following him. I took another step towards you, the stair creaking loudly beneath my foot.

I held my breath, stars bursting beneath my eyes.

“I can’t _save_ either of them from me, Yang,” you said. There were tears in your voice.

“Ruby…” Yang finished her drink, slamming her glass down hard on the table. “Ain’t no one need to be saved by you.” She looked down into the bottom of her glass.

My heart stammered, hooked on Yang’s every word.

“Penny had you in chains.” She spit on the deck at the memory.

You don’t mention what happened very often. So, I never asked.

“She thought she was saving me,” you countered.

“And you learned your ship wasn’t unsinkable.” Yang jabbed a finger into your face.

There was a previous Crescent Rose?

“I shouldn’t have been so bullheaded.” You hung your head in defeat.

“Piss off,” Yang snarled, smacking you on top of the head. “Penny could only ever see herself—Weiss don’t need you feelin’ sorry for yourself. She don’t need you to save her at all.”

My mind was static listening to your sister defend me. Like I had stepped into a parallel world.

“In fact, she saved _you_.” Yang flicked your nose.

Yelping, you stared at her, the words sinking in slowly.

“So stop being a damsel and buck up, Rubes.” Yang smirked at you. “There’s enough of them already.”

Neptune emerged from the kitchens again, this time with his stew pot in hand. Using his intrusion as an excuse I bolted back up onto the main deck.

I didn’t sleep that night.

I pretended to, my back facing you the whole night. You tried to talk to me.

But I forced my eyes shut and blocked it all out.

You never did give up.

( _And I never will_.)

*

Firstly, Ruby Rose, if you’re going to read my PRIVATE JOURNAL, then maybe you should apply some tact. And no: stealing it out from under me while I’m WRITING IN IT and locking yourself in the brig is _not_ tactful, before you attempt to defend your actions.

Second, if you intended to get away with it, you shouldn’t have written anything!

Seriously, for a pirate you’re terribly obvious.

And now that you know I write to you, you won’t stop _pestering me_.

“Weiss, are you gonna write about this? Weiss, are you gonna write about that?”

I’m not going to write every single starfish stuck to Nora’s face. It’d be a chronicle and I’d never get _anywhere_.

It’s _you_ , Ruby.

So, stop trying to steal this.

Unless you _think_ Zwei needs some new chew toys.

TALKING ABOUT YOUR BOOTS.

*

There was a party in the galley this evening.

It’s the first time that we’ve all been able to relax, I think. The first time you’re not bleeding out or stabbed or dying. The first time I’m not literally losing my mind. The first time back with everyone.

They all missed you.

Nora especially. Men were talking about it.

The Crescent Rose is the same—but we’re all so different now.

Remember when you came for ~~me~~ Winter?

I would have given anything to be taken from that place. If you had taken my eye, then that would have been an acceptable risk.

I was different then. But still the same.

There’s so much more than just me, now.

When you pulled me from the cabin out into the music on the main deck, I was…relieved.

Paper lanterns were strung in the sails, casting a soft light across the Crescent Rose. Crewmen were drinking and laughing. They slapped each other on the backs and told flagrant jokes about brothel girls and bosoms.

Nora furiously played a lute, accompanied by Ren on a wooden hand drum. They passed glances to each other and sang along with the crew, playing shanties and tavern favorites. Sun accompanied them on a pan pipe, twirling across the deck as he played. Yang danced with reckless abandon, Blake laughing at her antics and joining her. I’ve never seen Blake so…free.

The way she looks at Yang, Ruby…

You know it, don’t you?

“What’s this?” I asked. The music was loud and the laughter louder.

“Oh Weiss, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to have _fun_.” You smirked back at me, a glint in your eyes.

I scowled, but the flooding blush was unavoidable.

You poked my cheek and grinned. “Sing for me.”

My throat tightened. “R-Ruby!”

“So she lives!” Yang spun between us and threw her arms around us. “How’dja bait her, Rubes?”

You flicked your eyes towards me, pink dusting across your nose as you shrugged your shoulders. “O-oh, I dunno,” you replied. “Just lucky, I guess.” You beamed.

“Aw!” Yang shouted, pulling us into her crushing embrace.

Annoyed, I shrugged Yang off of me and stomped towards one of the kegs. You were at my heels the whole time, your sister yelling catcalls behind us until Blake hushed her. How? I don’t care—I was filling up my mug and downing it as fast as I could before I changed my mind.

“Weiss, what are—”

I whirled on you and pressed the tips of my fingers to your lips. I tipped the rest of the ale back, the alcohol burning my throat. Once drained, I placed my mug neatly back upon the keg. You watched me, your eyebrows furrowed.

“Dance with me,” I said. The world was already starting to pitch. I must admit, I don’t seem to hold my alcohol so well around you.

Your eyes flicked to Nora who was furiously playing Can’t Hold A Man Down. Many were singing in a drunken lull.

“Weiss, I can’t dance,” you whispered.

I snorted, tossing my hair back. “Dance with me,” I demanded again.

“But—”

I grabbed you by the wrists and pulled you out into your dancing crew. There was fear in your eyes as I placed your hands on my waist. “Just dance.” My chest was warm as I twirled in your hesitant arms, moving to the sway of the song.

The high whine of a fiddle joined in, Blake dancing around Nora as she played.

Your fingers grazed my hips as I danced around you.

And I sang for you, softly at first.

I felt silly, dancing with drunken pirates in the middle of the sea, but then you loosened up and gripped my waist and dipped me low, singing sharp and poorly.

“Ruby,” I laughed, unable to resist the spreading smile.

You continued to beam at me, singing louder until you were competing with Yang.

“OH, COME ON, YER TERRIBLE!” Yang shouted between verses.

“NOT AS BAD AS YOU!” You’d reply back and earn a laugh from everyone.

One song rolled into another and the jeering would start all over again.

I drank more than I should have and sang songs that would have made my mother blush. But it was fun and I never wanted it to end. So, I danced with you and drank mug after mug of ale. I arm wrestled Nora and regretted my choice.

You kissed me beneath the paper lanterns and I lost time.

I played bones with Sun and won his monkey in a bet. After keeping Junior for two minutes, I decided he wasn’t worth the time. I purposely lost him back to Sun.

Don’t tell him—someday I want to be the one to crush his ego.

I don’t know how long we danced or how long we sang.

But we drank until the sun came up.

We danced until we couldn’t stand any more.

We laughed until we cried.

We sang until we forgot the words.

And everyone was a family again.

*

If you didn’t want me to find this, then you wouldn’t have left it buried behind my bookshelf.

*

Ruby Rose, you are insufferable.

**Author's Note:**

> So?
> 
> Thoughts are welcome.
> 
> And don't forget F's for Jerry. ;O;


End file.
